On Saturday, Scotland will host England at Hampden for the first time since 1999, and for the first time ever in a World Cup qualifier. Scotland currently lie 4th in Group F, behind England, Slovakia, and Slovenia, although with 5 games played, and 5 games to go, a lot can still happen. But talk of this weekend’s […]

When I worked at the Scottish Parliament about 14 years ago, I had a fanciful conversation with a senior MSP about what effect a Scottish World Cup win would have on a vote for independence. My feeling was that if it happened on the eve of a referendum, the feel-good factor of such an, admittedly […]

It started, like all the best ideas, in the pub. I can’t remember which pub now, or how exactly the conversation went, but that’s always the way with pub chat, isn’t it? Either way, myself, fellow author Allan Wilson and publisher Mark Buckland were standing with pints in hand talking about books and football, a […]

New York’s best Scottish soccer talent is set to make its debut appearance in the Cosmos Copa tournament this Sunday, 23 June, where they will face teams representing Gambia, England, and Paraguay. The Copa tournament, run by the famous New York Cosmos soccer club, is now in its fifth year and has established itself as […]

NYC Scotland President Colin Reid blasted his English counterpart over comments the NYC England man made after Sunday’s 4-4 tie between the teams in a pre-Cosmos Copa friendly in Brooklyn on Sunday, taking offence at accusations that the Scots were deceptive, deceitful, and dastardly. NYC England President Yuval Lion, 42, had earlier said, “Those wily […]

Back in 2006 when I lived in New York, I was part of the first annual Tartan Army Tartan Day football match between the NY Tartan Army and Tartan Army visitors. I know that there is too much ‘tartan’ in that sentence but there you go. Anyway we (the NY Tartan Army) won 4-2 that […]

Virtually everyone has already written off Scotland’s chances of making the next World Cup. But as I watched us crush Estonia last night I started to wonder what needs to happen for us to make it. I know this is crazy but after crunching the numbers I think we can actually do it. Here’s how:

Integrity is defined in the dictionary as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.” There’s no dictionary definition for “sporting integrity,” though there’s been no end of talk about it recently in Scottish football. I thought I’d have a go at clarifying it for you in case you – like me – […]

With the failure of Rangers FC plc’s Company Voluntary Arrangement and the liquidation of the club to follow, the Rangers debacle is finally coming to a resolution. Fittingly for a situation involving so much unpaid debt, there are few who emerge from the episode with much credit. But it’s the trophy end of the season, […]